BillerudKorsnäs first quarter impacted by spillover from previous production problems during 2016

BillerudKorsnäs first quarter results are negatively impacted by quality costs emanating from production during the second half of 2016 and start-up costs for the Rockhammar re-build late 2016. Operating profit for the first quarter is estimated to amount to approximately SEK 550 million.

"It is both unexpected and frustrating that we have to take these one-off costs in an otherwise positive development. Production is delivering to expectations. Production volumes were the highest ever in a single quarter, and sales, especially for Consumer Board, is showing better than anticipated growth. The market trends for Packaging Paper and Corrugated Solutions are also very strong at the moment so looking beyond these two issues it actually looks pretty good”, says Per Lindberg, President & CEO.

The extra costs for the quality problem and the re-build amount to approximately SEK 80 million. There is also a timing issue between Q1 and Q2 for costs related to the maintenance shutdown in Gruvön where approximately SEK 15 million more than previously guided is taken in Q1, this will reduce Q2 impact with SEK 10 million compared to previous guidance. Additional SEK 10 million impact the result negatively due to reassessment according to IAS16 and relates to costs for moving and education in the restructuring project in Skärblacka. This will impact the full-year results with approximately SEK 45 million and hence reduce the capex with the same amount.

The results are still preliminary and have not been reviewed by the auditors.

BillerudKorsnäs will publish its first quarter report for 2017, on April 20, 2017 at 07:00 CET.

BillerudKorsnäs provides packaging materials and solutions that challenge conventional packaging for a sustainable future. We are a world-leading provider of primary fibre based packaging materials and have customers in over 100 countries. The company has 8 production sites in Sweden, Finland and the UK and about 4 300 employees in over 13 countries. BillerudKorsnäs has an annual turnover of about SEK 22 billion and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. www.billerudkorsnas.com